Mrs Forgetful!

I went back to work this morning, leaving Sophie in bed, and managed to forget my phone! I had to call Keith and ask him to bring it in, so not a great start to the day! The weather was horrible, with torrential rain and heavy grey skies, which really matched my mood!

There were 105 emails waiting for me to deal with, so that was a shock! I'd been in on Saturday so I'd only been away two days! I set to, and because Kathy and Shirley had covered Jo's annual leave, I was able to get them all answered by the time I left at 4pm.

When I got home, Sophie was still in bed and feeling dreadful. Her stomach hurt and I think the antibiotics were affecting her in other ways... the less said, the better! Gomey was curled up with her and had kept her company all day, bless him. 

Keith was going to the football this evening and we'd planned Jerk Chicken Pasta for dinner, but she asked if we could just have something simple, like fish fingers. She must have been ill to turn down one of her favourite meals!

I encouraged her to have a shower and that made her feel better. Keith went out for the third time today to have his Spring Covid booster at the surgery. He'd already been for a haircut and had been to the surgery to get his blood test results after complaining of a bit of stomach pain last month. Luckily, his results were fine, so that was a relief. 

Vikesh came over at 6.30pm and brought Sophie Teriyaki chicken and an air purifier! He sat with us for the evening and I fulfilled Sophie's wish for dinner - a fish finger sandwich!  We sat and watched old episodes of Come Dine With Me which were hilarious with some real characters taking part.

Halfway through the evening, Keith called me from the football saying he was coming home early and to put his chicken in the oven. He was watching two teams play in a cup match, but as neither of them were Sileby, I think he'd lost interest a bit!

Feeling poorly...

Unfortunately, Sophie didn't feel well in the night, and both of us were sitting downstairs at midnight. She felt wheezy and said it hurt to lie down as her chest felt so congested. I said we would call the surgery first thing in the morning and try and get a GP appointment. I was perplexed as to why she was feeling like this again after a trip away. The exact same thing happened after she returned from Istanbul in November of last year.

She came to bed with me and we had a somewhat disturbed night. I texted Sheila at 7.30am to ask if I could work 10am until 4pm, but after Sophie had called the surgery and been given an appointment at 2pm, I decided to use a day's annual leave and stay at home with my daughter.

I tackled some housework and Sophie tried to doze on the sofa but she felt wheezy. Keith did our shopping and brought back some Covonia Night Time which she hoped would knock her out in the evening! It's always worked for me!

Sophie didn't feel like eating much and just wanted to curl up and doze, so I knew she wasn't feeling right. At 2pm we headed over to the surgery and Sophie saw the nurse practitioner who said she had a chest infection and prescribed antibiotics. They were different to the ones she took back in November last year and we hoped they would start working soon.

For the rest of the day, we relaxed and both of us tried to have a nap as we felt so tired. We'd planned a roast chicken for dinner, with salad and new potatoes, but none of us felt like it all, so we ate cold meats, salad and crusty bread.

Sophie's homecoming certainly wasn't how I'd imagined it would be!

Catching up with jobs!

Although I didn't go to sleep until about 2am this morning, I was up at 8am and facing a day of laundry, which I love doing. Sophie surfaced at about 9am and she distributed presents to us - beautiful mugs and bowls, an egg cup and two wall tiles.

She told us more about the holiday and how she hated seeing the cats in such a poor state and treated almost as if they were vermin. I think she expected Marrakesh to be very similar to Istanbul, but it wasn't.

While I tackled her laundry she unpacked and we kept busy for most of the day. She was worried about her cold and said that her chest felt tight again, which was a worry. We debated about whether to have beef stroganoff for dinner this evening, as Sophie didn't feel up to cooking it, but I said I would do a lot, and Keith had prepared the meat and vegetables.

I made meringue for the Pavlova and pootled about in the afternoon, doing housework and hanging out all the washing to dry outside. I was so glad it was a beautiful, sunny day with a gorgeous warm breeze. Perfect for doing laundry!

We sat in the kitchen and chatted in the late afternoon, and at 5pm settled down to watch The Eurovision Song Contest. I opened a bottle of Champagne and we saw the first ten or so songs. I liked most of them but some were seriously weird, including Ireland's entry!

Halfway through, we cooked dinner and opened a bottle of Vacqueyras to accompany the meal. Once we'd eaten, cleared away and stacked the dishwasher, it was into the living room for the rest of the contest. As we'd recorded the programme, we were able to whizz through the boring bits and we finished watching at about 10pm. We were disappointed that the UK didn't receive one single public vote but we had already learnt that Switzerland had won, so it didn't come as a surprise! Maybe, next year, we'll try and go and see it live!

Missing a spectacle!

I woke up to the news that last night the Northern Lights were clearly visible - and spectacular - all over the UK. Neighbours had posted fantastic photos of the sky above us lit up with gorgeous colours. I, of course, had missed them... they had been seen at about 11.30pm, well after my bedtime! There was some hope they would appear again over the weekend so tonight, I'll be glued to the window!

Keith dropped me off at work and I had to change desks today due to some technical issue with our computers. Sheila was in and talking Sue through the process so at least we had some help! It was a quiet shift and I managed to get all the emails sorted and the Moan report started!

At 2pm, Keith and I returned home and I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, doing very little. Yesterday, we had changed Sophie's bedding and I'd put it all back so that was one job done. I did hoover and tidy up and we ordered a Chinese takeaway as a treat. We had originally talked about going out for a meal, but it was nicer to stay at home, have a drink and order something to eat.

The meal was delivered far quicker than we imagined, so we were all finished by 7.30pm. We chose a film to watch called In The Land of Saints and Sinners, starring Liam Neeson, and then we caught the end of Casino Royale.

Sophie still felt poorly and texted me to say they'd landed at Heathrow at about 10pm. At about 11pm I went out into the garden to check the sky, but saw nothing apart from some hazy stars. There must have been a Eurovision party going on somewhere and I heard some cheering! We had recorded the festival to watch tomorrow.

Sophie arrived home just after midnight, and before bed, we had a long chat about the holiday. She was glad to be home and hadn't enjoyed the holiday as much as she'd anticipated. The constant hassling whenever they left their hotel, and the neglected cats, were too much for her and she said she doubted whether she'd ever feel like going back to Africa again. She was stuffed up and was grateful to be back in her own bed!

 

A small feeling of relief!

Today has been a busy shift at work and catching up with everything that needed to be done, including making sure the swim camps and holiday activities were on the system ready for the May half-term. It felt great when they were all on!

After work, I drove over to Kettering, and within minutes, Mum and Dad were back on Netflix, much to their relief! I was also relieved and hoped that they could work out the remote control to switch back and forth between the streaming channel and normal television!

I dashed home and relaxed, watching more of the film Little Buddha while Keith was at the pub. Sophie Facetimed again and said she had a bad cold and a sore throat. This happened when she went to Istanbul last year, and she ended up with antibiotics, so that was one more worry to contend with! I'll be very glad when she's home tomorrow night!

I missed my wine buddy tonight but poured a glass for myself and prepared a very simple dinner. I felt shattered, so it was an early night. I'm working tomorrow!

I am so grumpy!

My busy, shorter, shift passed very quickly and at 2pm Keith came to pick me up in the VW and we went to collect the bedspread from the launderette.

Back home, I changed (it was warm again) and drove over to the care home to see if I could get Mum and Dad back onto Netflix. I resorted to calling their helpline, but after changing the email address and password, it still wouldn't work, so it was hugely frustrating. I had wasted an hour and still hadn't got anywhere!

I left them and walked back to the car, managing to rip off one of the straps on my sandal as I walked, so I had to drive back home barefoot... not really what I wanted! On the way, two vans on two separate occasions nearly wiped me out (one was our new neighbour who took a bend at such speed he was on two wheels), so by the time I arrived I was gibbering with annoyance and frustration. What made things worse was the arrival of the invoice from the council with the bill for my Mum's care home contribution. She had had to pay from last June, and we'd only just received the invoice for almost £8000. I dreaded to think how much my Dad's would be as he has to pay more!

I was in such a bad mood that nothing made me feel better. I Facetimed Sophie and even speaking to her didn't bring a smile to my face. As soon as she ended the call, I phoned Netflix again and this time, with another email address and password, I managed to sort it out. I'll go straight from work tomorrow and get them back onto the channel so they can enjoy it over the weekend.

Keith made me a G&T but nothing put me in a good mood! Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

What a busy day!

I was facing a busy day today with many errands and things to do. First up was a visit to Kingsley Beauty Salon for electrolysis on my upper lip. I DO NOT want to become one of those hairy women you see, so I had arranged an appointment to look at what needed to be done, and then do away with any rogue hairs that had surfaced. 

The beautician carefully explained about hair growth and said that she could reduce any hairs significantly, but not obliterate them completely, as the little buggers have a habit of popping up in different places! She examined my upper lip area, said things were not as bad as I feared and spent fifteen minutes inserting an ultra-sharp needle into the follicles and zapping them away. It hurt, but luckily it was only momentary. However, when she zapped a couple near my nose, I nearly went through the roof! The things us wimmin have to do!

Keith had come along with me and was waiting for me in the car, so from the salon, we dropped our huge bedspread off to be cleaned at the launderette, and then went to the Weston Favell Centre. After my contact lens appointment last week, I had asked for a sample box of the new multi-focal lenses and they were ready for me to collect. I sat with one of the staff and changed my lenses over to the new ones, I was so impressed!

After the trauma (!) of the beauty appointment, I needed a coffee so we sat in Costa Coffee and relaxed for ten minutes before returning to the car. As Keith closed the passenger door of my car, the glass in the wing mirror fell out, smashing into smithereens on the ground! We had to try and collect as many bits as we could in case someone drove on them and punctured their tyre. 

Next up was a visit to Jones's (I so miss Wilko for their homewares range and gardening stuff) where we spent a delightful hour buying loo brushes, laundry pegs, glue, cleaning cloths, drain cleaner and candles. What an exciting shop!

I was waiting for a text from Dunelm to tell me that the pillowcases I'd ordered at the weekend were ready to collect and it came through just as we were leaving Jones's. We went to get them and then popped into Curry's to look at fridges for the garage. We wanted one to store bottles of beer and other drinks now that the warmer weather has arrived, and we saw one that fitted the bill perfectly. It was an under-counter fridge and even had a small freezer. Luckily, it was in stock and a very helpful man carried it out to the car for us.

Our next port of call was B&Q to replace our barbecue gas but they no longer supply Calor Gas so we were told to go to Bell's instead. We popped into Aldi for bread and lager, and then drove to Bell's, somewhere we hadn't been for years as Keith had fallen out with someone there aeons ago. I was hugely impressed when we went in as I didn't realise they supply kitchens and bathrooms. I just thought they sold fireplaces!

The department selling Calor Gas and barbecues was right at the back of the shop so we moved the car around to the rear car park and exchanged our gas bottle very efficiently with another friendly man who remarked on Keith's northern accent! Keith said he was an extra in Vera, and yes he was the murderer!

By now, it was warming up and the temperature was about 24c. We headed home, more than ready for a sandwich and a cold lager. Keith emptied the car and as he shut the driver door, the glass in the wing mirror fell out, smashing into smithereens on the ground... no, I haven't repeated myself, this was now both wing mirrors out of use! I couldn't believe it!

After putting everything away, having lunch and drinking a much-needed cold glass of beer, I found a company online to order two more mirrors for £40... 

The rest of the day was spent catching up with the normal Wednesday jobs and trying to write the shopping list, always such an enjoyable chore!

More phone calls

Work was stressful today because I had to help out with the phone calls all day, and try and tackle the emails. Luckily, I had managed to clear a lot yesterday, but I was still very busy and had a quick chat with Sara to ask for help with the orders. She returned today and was busy as well. We need more staff!

It was a huge relief to head home at 4pm, and I Facetimed Sophie, who had arrived in Marrakesh just after lunchtime. She sent me photos of her beautiful hotel - a Riad with only ten rooms - and we had a great chat. She was missing the cats, and her eyes filled up when she saw Mooney curled up on the sofa!

Keith went to a cup match at Sileby tonight, so I had a couple of hours on my own. I ate the leftover cottage pie from last night, drank the rest of the bottle of red, and watched some old sitcoms. Both cats were nowhere to be seen, so I didn't even have a cuddle!

Keith arrived home at about 10pm and sat with me with a cup of tea. I am so looking forward to a day off tomorrow!

A short shift

I began my shift at 9 am today, and since it's a Bank Holiday, we finished at 2 pm, making it a shorter day than normal. Denise and I handled 134 calls together, with the majority enquiring about our swimming session times and whether lessons were on today. Many of these enquiries could have been resolved by visiting our website, which made us feel like screaming at the callers by the end of our shift!

At 2pm, I sped home and had an hour with Sophie before she and Vikesh set off for Heathrow and their airport hotel for the night. I must confess, the afternoon was spent doing very little, but I did manage to finish my current book, which made for a very relaxing time.

I opened a bottle of red wine (Sophie was having a glass of red in the hotel restaurant) and Keith cooked cottage pie. We are not going to fall into the trap of "anything will do" this week and have planned our meals out properly. We might even go out for dinner!

Tackling the "To Do" list!

We gave Sophie a lift to the gym this morning and sat and waited for her while reading the Sunday papers. It was then home for hot cross buns and coffee and Wordle off! We try and set aside a few minutes for this every day and compete with one another!

I wanted to get lots of jobs done today and, as it was a sunny day and beautifully breezy, I was in the mood for cleaning and sorting things out. I tackled my "To Do" list and achieved quite a bit, which pleased me as some of the jobs were long overdue! Sophie washed her make-up brushes and did the rest of her packing ready for the off tomorrow. We indulged in a vodka and tonic in the afternoon, and pootled about feeling very relaxed. I was just a bit miffed I have to work tomorrow, but at least it's a short shift!

Keith barbecued in the evening while Sophie and I prepared the vegetables. It clouded over slightly, but it was still warmish. I think the whole of the next week is set to be dry and warm!

After dinner, we watched two episodes of Baby Reindeer, a show that everyone, and I mean everyone, is talking about! We'll have to catch up on the rest of the programmes when Sophie gets home!

Bringing home the bargains!

We had a great, relaxed start to the day with toast and coffee for breakfast while watching Saturday Morning Kitchen. The sun was shining outside, and it felt noticeably warmer than of late. Has spring finally arrived?

We had a table booked at Casa Nostra today, but Sophie moved the booking to 2pm from 12.30pm, as we had enjoyed a late breakfast and wanted to be properly hungry for our lunch! We left home at midday and made our way to Market Harborough, parking easily in the car park, where a group of people were gathered, dressed in their wedding finery. We'd seen an old red double-decker bus waiting to take people and everyone was beautifully dressed, including the bride who was all in white!

Sophie had a list of jobs today and, first of all, she wanted to get an old watch of mine mended so she could wear it again. I'd bought it years ago at an antique fair and it had been languishing in a pot so I looked forward to seeing it on her wrist. Denham's, the jewellers, weren't interested, so we took it to Timpson's and a very helpful man asked us to leave it with him for a few minutes while he tried to replace the little pin attaching the strap to the watch face itself.

We did some shopping and when we returned he was still working on it, but within a couple of minutes, it was fixed. he only charged Sophie £5! We then had an agreeable hour of shopping in the numerous charity shops in Market Harborough and Sophie treated herself to some lovely clothes at bargain prices. She always does so well! Her bag was bulging!

There was a small market taking place and a man was belting out Rod Stewart songs. When we rounded a corner and saw him, he looked like the singer as well! He was brilliant!

At 2pm, we arrived at Casa Nostra and took our seats. We chose chicken tenders and cheesy garlic bread to start, followed by a shared chicken pizza. We drank a glass each of Chardonnay and a large bottle of sparkling water. The restaurant had emptied out, but towards 3pm another wave of people came in to eat. 

Note the bulging bag beside Sophie!

The food was excellent as always and we passed on dessert as I promised Sophie a McFlurry later on! We paid the bill and visited two more shops before we went home. Sophie bought more clothes and I found two beautiful marble-effect candlesticks that will look great in the kitchen.

I'd promised I'd take my Mum some toiletries on the way home, so we took a different route from Market Harborough to Kettering. We popped in, saw Mum and Dad and had a chat, and then visited 

Mcdonald's where we ordered two McFlurrys. As it was still such a lovely day, we sat outside in the sun to enjoy them!

Back home, we pootled about and Sophie tried on her new clothes. She had found some real treasures today! We put them on a quick wash and hung them up in the sunny conservatory to dry. Keith returned from yet another Sileby match and we all sat in the living room watching football. I'm sure he's going to get withdrawal symptoms now the season has almost ended!

It was great to have a relaxing evening and not to have to think about cooking dinner. Keith looked after himself and we nibbled on some satay chicken and cheese later on. Keith had recorded a programme about the Eurovision Song Contest which kept us amused all evening!

Dining out

Today has not been enjoyable at work. I had to answer the phone as we had a member of staff on annual leave, and my first phone call was long and complicated! Not really what I needed! In between calls, I tried to answer the emails, so I was heartily glad when it was 4pm and I could go home. Unfortunately, I'm back in on Bank Holiday Monday answering calls, and we're one short on Tuesday as well...

Sophie and I went out this evening with Lynda and Andrea to The Royal Oak in Cogenhoe for a meal. We called for Lynda to give her a lift and admired her new kitchen. After seeing the house, we splashed our way to the pub (it had been pouring all day) where we met Andrea in the bar. The pub was busy with drinkers and we were shown through to the quiet dining room with our drinks.

We had heard that the pub had been taken over, and I was a little apprehensive that we were the only ones eating (another couple did come in). We had a good chat and a look at the menu, ordering breaded mushrooms (Sophie and I) and king prawns (Lynda and Andrea). When the hesitant waitress came to take our order, she said that the prawns might be off, and when she returned after enquiring, they were. Lynda and Andrea then ordered the halloumi starter, but this was not available either! We all ended up with breaded mushrooms with a garlic dip which was the strongest I've ever tasted!

I'd chosen the rump steak as a main course, but this wasn't available so I went for the 8oz sirloin served with chunky chips, mushrooms and peas. Both Lynda and Andrea opted for the lamb shank served with mashed potatoes and vegetables, while Sophie enjoyed vegetarian meatballs and pasta.

Our waitress was young and hesitant and obviously hadn't been told what the evening specials were. She didn't try and sell us bottled water, sides or sauces and just plonked our second bottle of wine on the table without any ceremony. I'm glad it was a screw top and not a cork!

We managed to find room for puds - chocolate layer cake for Sophie and me, cheesecake for Lynda and sticky toffee pudding for Andrea. The food had been acceptable, the portions reasonable, but the poor waitress needed some training! The bill came to £193. so not cheap! It had been a great evening and lovely to catch up with friends.

We took Lynda home and splashed through the sodden roads again. I was looking forward to a lie-in tomorrow morning!

I lose my blob...

I had a busy shift at work today - 70 emails were waiting for me to sort out, so the time flew by. At 2pm. I set out to collect Mum from the care home to take her to her nail appointment. I reached the A43 and saw a long line of stationary traffic in the distance...

I waited a little while, but the vehicles up ahead were moving slowly, so I made the decision to turn around and take the country road through the villages, eventually joining the A43 again at Mawlsey. I was late picking Mum up and hoped she'd be waiting for me in reception.

She wasn't. I had to go to the room where she was just getting up from the sofa. I lost my temper because I'd asked her to meet me in reception when she'd called yesterday, and it helps so much if she's ready to go. I hustled her back downstairs and out to the car,  but I knew we were going to be late, so I messaged Natalia to let her know.

Back on the A43, I drove like a maniac and we were only, in the end, two minutes late. On the way, though, I'd said I was getting a little fed up with being treated like a skivvy and said that Dad only sees me as someone to get him things. It seems like whenever I walk into their room, he asks for something, and there are never any questions about how we all are, and how the children are. I'm not proud of my outburst, but I was stressed because of the traffic and because on a Thursday afternoon, I'd really rather be doing something else than driving on the hectic A43 between Northampton and Kettering...three times!

So, it wasn't the most pleasant of journeys, but at least I could relax while Mum was having her nails seen to. I dropped her back off at about 4.30pm and gave her the bag of toiletries that I'd bought for them both yesterday. We'd made up on the way home, but things were still a little tense!

Back home, I pootled about and Sophie made us a delicious paella for dinner, enjoyed with a bottle of the Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon. A good end to a somewhat stressful day!

Getting things done!

I had an optician's appointment at 11am today, so after a little lie-in and a shower, we set off for the Weston Favell Centre, the first time we'd been in ages.

I managed a quick coffee before my appointment, and Keith went off to find a secondhand book to read while he waited. My appointment was done in half an hour and I was wearing varifocal lenses, allowing me to see long distances and read simultaneously! They were great!

Keith and I popped to Tesco to buy toiletries for Mum and Dad, Factor 50 sunscreen for Sophie (it's going to be hot in Marrakesh) and something for our lunch. We met Jeanette in Tesco, who used to work for us when we had the soft play business, so we chatted for a while. I couldn't believe we hadn't seen her since covid!

Back home, we had lunch and then I spent the afternoon busying myself with jobs that needed doing. I wrote a list and managed to tick them all off!

Dinner this evening was beef in a black bean sauce with rice, expertly cooked by Sophie, which was delicious with more than enough left for lunch tomorrow!